Biometric measurements are measurements of unique attributes of living entities. For example, fingerprint and iris patterns are collectively considered unique to each individual human being. Likewise, some visual patterns along a surface of a living entity, also referred to herein as a biometric surface, are also considered unique for each living entity. In some circumstances, a substantial presence of ambient light can interfere with accurately capturing a clear image of a biometric surface. This is especially true when such an image is captured for the purpose of performing a biometric measurement of a surface.
One ambient light reduction solution known in the art is the use of a mechanical shield such as is employed in the SEEK and ISCAN2 products from Cross Match Technologies, Inc. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.). In these two examples, a mechanical hood is utilized to bridge the gap between the apparatus' image capture instrument and the subject's face so that the apparatus can capture an image of the subject's iris with minimal ambient light effects. However, a preferred solution is one that does not require touching of the scanning apparatus or a mechanical feature thereof to the subject in order to capture a particular biometric feature in bright ambient light conditions.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.